Marine railway



S. A. M DOWELL MARINE RAILWAY Oct. 16, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June- 9, 1959 S- A. M DOWELL MARINE RAILWAY Oct. 16, 1962 4, Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 9, 1959 IN VEN TOR.

bY ww zsm Oct. 16, 1962 s. A. MCDOWELL MARINE RAILWAY 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 9, 1959 samu e/ A. M000 well 1N VEN TOR.

BY WW Em Oct. 16, 1962 s. A. MCDOWELL,

MARINE RAILWAY 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 9, 1959 Samuel A. McDowell 1N VEN TOR. aoi'n.

Alma Uit This invention relates to a novel and useful marine railway and more particularly relates to a marine railway that will enable a boat owner to launch his boat into the water and retrieve it from the water without having to step from the boat.

With boating becoming increasingly more popular there is a widespread demand by many boat owners for a means for retrieving their boat from the water after each period of use. Many forms of marine railways have been heretofore designed but most of these have had many drawbacks. In many instances it is desired to have a railway that may, itself, be removed from the water during the non-seasonal period of the year when a boat owner does not desire to use his boat or during a period when he is away from his waterside property. Most of the marine railways now in use are of the permanent type, and if a person lives away from his waterside property during the non-seasonal months it is extremely hard for him to feel confident that his railway will not be damaged by storms, high water, and various other factors which might have detrimental effects thereon. There have been attempts to design marine railways that may be removed from the water during the non-seasonal months, but most of these have met with failure because shorelines sometimes change their shapes, and the bottom of a lake or river and the like is apt to change in contour during a storm which could cause a railway to be completely covered and rendered useless.

The main object of this invention is to provide a marine railway comprising a series of removably secured interconnected double rail track sections that may be secured to form a continuous railway, and to provide a means whereby each rail section is mounted for limited lateral movement relative to the adjoining rail sections so that it may conform to the contour of the surface on which it is supported.

A further object of this invention is to provide a marine railway having a boat dolly thereon with various cradles that will engage and guide a boat into position on the cradle so that it is not necessary to guide it into position on the boat dolly.

A further object, in accordance with the preceding objects, is to provide a boat dolly having double flanged wheels which are adapted to engage and embrace the rails of each track section and a means for preventing the wheels from becoming disengaged with the rails of the track sections.

Still another object is to provide a boat dolly having a pair of rear cradles adapted to engage the aft portion of a boat hull with means thereon for automatically retaining the boat in position on the dolly while the latter is moved up the railway and out of the water.

A further object is to provide an extensible bow cradle on the doat dolly that may be secured in adjusted extended positions so as to adapt the boat dolly for use with boats of varying lengths.

Still another object in accordance with the preceding object, is to provide a pivotally mounted V-shaped bow plate for the boat cradle so that the cradle may be further adapted to receive boats having different shaped bows.

.Yet another object is to provide a power means that may be operated to selectively move the boat dolly in either direction along the'rail sections.

A final object to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a marine railway which will lend itself to con- 3,658,312 Patented Get. 16, 1962 ventional forms of manufacture, be of relatively simple construction, be easy to operate and long lasting so as to provide a useful and desirable device that may be used to great advantage by many boat owners.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the marine railway showing a boat being carried by the dolly thereon, only one section of the railway being shown;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the marine railway on a somewhat reduced scale showing the manner in which it is used to either raise or lower a boat thereon;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the uppermost rail section of the railway, the adjacent rail section being shown in poition to be removably secured thereto;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the uppermost section of the railway shown with the motor and winch secured thereto;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the boat dolly shown mounted upon one of the rail sections, parts thereof being broken away and the flexible cables shown secured to the boat dolly;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the boat dolly as seen in FIGURE 5 with a pivoted position of the front and rear cradles being shown in phantom lines;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of a joint between two of the rail sections, parts of the rail sections being broken away and the locked position of the operating lever being shown in phantom lines;

FIGURE 8 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the joint between two of the rail sections taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 8-8 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURE 9 is an end elevational view of the boat dolly shown mounted upon one of the rail sections, the rail sections being shown in section;

FIGURE 10 is an end elevational view of the upper end of the railway showing the details of the motor and winch for effecting the movement of the boat dolly along the railway; and

FIGURE 11 is a fragmentary view of one side of the bow cradle showing one of the pivotally mounted bow guides, a pivoted position thereof being shown in phantom lines.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generally designates the marine railway of the instant invention having a boat dolly generally designated by the reference numeral 12 mounted thereon for longitudinal movement therealong, there being an electric motor 14 operatively connected to a double drum winch 16 which in turn is secured to the boat dolly 12 by means of cables 18 and 20.

With attention now drawn more particularly to vFIG- URE 5 it will be seen that the boat dolly 12 comprises a rectangular frame 22 that has at each end a pair of stub axles 24, each of which has a double flanged wheel 26 rotatably journaled thereon. The double flanged wheels 26 on each side of the dolly 12 are aligned and engage the rails 28 of the railway 10 as shown in FIGURE 9. Secured to the front of the frame 22 is a first pair of supports 30 which pivotally mount the two forward cradles 32 to the dolly 12. It will be noted, with attention drawn more particularly to FIGURE 6, that the forward cradles 32 may be adjusted in height along the vertical extent of the supports 30 by means of aligned apertures 34 and pivot bolts 36 which extend therethrough and through the rear portion of the rear cradles 38. Also secured to the frame 22' at the rear end thereof, is a second pair of supports 30 to which is pivotally secured a pair of rear cradles 38 which may also be adjusted upon support 30 by means of apertures 34 and pivot pin 36. It will be further noted, see FIGURES 2 and 6, that the rear cradles 38 are provided with shoulder portions 40 which are adapted to engage the lower edge of a boat transom to retain the boat 42 in position upon the dolly 12 until the level of the water is sufficient to heat the boat 42 from engagement with the dolly 12.

With attention now drawn to FIGURE 9 it will be noted that the dolly 12 is provided with a guide 42 adjacent each wheel 26 which is positioned a spaced distance beneath the undersurface of the rails 28 to insure that the dolly 12 will not be derailed.

As shown by FIGURES 1 and 2 each of the cradles is provided with a resilient covering 44 on which the bottom of the boat 46 is adapted to rest.

The dolly 12 is provided with a bow cradle generally referred to by the reference numeral 48 which is extensible in length so as to be readily adaptable to boats of different lengths. The bow cradle 48 comprises a pair of rigidly mounted upwardly and forwardly extending tubular members 50 which are suitably apertured as at 52 and slidably receive the free ends of a generally U-shaped bow supporting member 54 the free ends of which are apertured as at 56, the apertures in the bow supporting member 54 and in the tubular members 52. being registrable, and a pin 58 being passed through the aligned apertures to adjustably position the bow supporting member 54. Fixedly secured to each side of the bow supporting member 54 is a flange or shoulder 60 having a bow guide 62 pivotally secured thereto for movement about a substantially vertical axis. Each of the bow guides 62 is arcuate in shape and has on its free end a bumper 64 which is adapted to engage the sides of the forward portion of the boat hull 46. It is to be understood that the bow guide can either be adjustably positioned to receive a bow of a certain width, or that they can be spring urged towards each other so as to resiliently guide the bow of a boat 46 into engagement with the V-shaped bow plate 66. The bow plate 66 is pivotally secured to the bow supporting member 54 for movement about a transversely extending axis by means of pivot bolt 67 secured between the arms of the bow support and rotatably journaled in aligned apertures (not shown) formed in the sides of the bow plate 66 so that it will adapt itself to receive a bow of any shape.

Mounted on the uppermost part of the upper rail section 68 is a power means in the form of a reversible Winch 16 having two winding drums 70 thereon. Motor 14 is of the reversible type having a control 72 therefor which may be mounted upon a support (not shown) carried by the boat dolly 12. The railway is shown, see FIGURE 2, having three rail sections including an upper section 68, an intermediate section 74, and a lower section 76. Each of the rail sections comprises a pair of rails 28 that are secured by any suitable means such as welding to angle members 78. The two angle members 78 of each rail 7 section are interconnected by means of cross members 80. Each of the rails 28 is in the form of an elongated tubular member and is provided with a truncated coneshaped projection 82 on its lower end, the upper end of each of the rails 28 being open with the projection 82 received within the upper open end of the adjacent lower rail section.

With attention now. drawn to FIGURES 2 and 8, it will be noted that the projections 82 may be inserted into the open ends 84 of the adjacent lower rail section and that when the two rail sections are drawn together, they will be secured for limited lateral movement relative to each other.

In order to tightly secure one rail section to the other, a means for removably securing the rail sections together is provided. The connection mechanism for securing two adjacent rail sections together comprises a cam lever 84 having an offset end portion '86 pivotally secured to the forwardmost cross member as at 88. Pivotally secured to the upper rail section by means of eye 92 is one end of a turnbuckle having the other end pivotally secured to the cam lever 84 on the adjacent rail section as at 94. The cam lever '84 may then be pivoted to the position shown by the phantom lines to draw the two rail sections together. It is to be understood that any convenient means may be provided to retain the offset end portion 86 of the cam lever 84 in a rotated position so that the rail sections are locked together. Further, it is to be understood that if it is desired the cam lever could be moved beyond an over center position against a stop so that it would be unnecessary to provide a locking means to retain the rail sections together. The tapered projections 82 received in the open end of the adjacent rail sections enable the rails to move a limited amount laterally relative to each other adapting the railway 10 to be used even though the bottom of the river of lake may be uneven.

The motor 14 may be operatively connected to the Winch 16 by any convenient means such as endless belt through a reduction gear box 102. Referring now to FIGURES l, 2 and 5, it will be noted that there is reeled on one Winding drum 70 one end of a flexible cable 18 and that one end of a flexible cable 20 is reeled about the other winding drum 70. Flexible cable 18 is secured to the front cross member of the dolly frame 22 as at 104 and the free end of the cable 20 is slidably received through each of the cable guides 106 that are secured to the underside of the dolly 12 and passed through the shiv 188 that is secured to the lowermost cross member 80 on the lowermost end of the lower rail section 76 and secured to one end of an expansion spring 110, the other end of the expansion spring being secured to the dolly 12 as at 112.

It is to be understood that the upper rail section 68 should be permanently affixed to the ground On which it rests and for this purpose any convenient means may be used such as cement block 114, the upper rail section 68 being removably secured thereto by any convenient means. In operation, assuming that the dolly has been adjusted to receive the particular type of boat resting upon it, control 72 may be operated to start the motor 14 in a direction that will reel in cable 20 and reel out cable 18. The dolly 12 will in this manner he moved down the railway and into the water 116 until the control 72 is manipulated to stop the motor when the dolly has been lowered into the water a suflicient amount to float the boat and lift it from the cradles of the dolly 12. The control 72 may then be placed on a suitable support (not shown) until it is desired to retrieve the boat 46 from the water.

It is to be understood that the boat cradles are constructed of a buoyant material so that as the boat 46 is floated, the forward ends of the boat cradles will be inclined upwardly so that when it is desired to retrieve the boat from the water the boat cradles will assist in guiding the boat 46 into the correct position above the boat cradle 12. As the boat cradles 32 and 38 together with the bow guides 62 guide the boat 46 until the bow thereof engages the bow plate 66 the boat 46 is positioned correctly above the boat cradle 12. If there is only one person aboard the boat 46 he may leave the boat in gear with the motor running at an idle to urge the boat into engagement with the bow plate 66 as he operates control 72 to start the motor 14 to Wind cable 18 about its corresponding drum. As the boat cradle 12 is moved up the railway 10, the cradles 38 will engage the bottom of the boat 46 with the shoulder 40 positioned to the rear of the transom of the boat. After the shoulders 40 have engaged the rear portion of the boat 46, the boats motor may then be stopped without danger of the boat sliding rearwardly from the cradle as it moves up the railway 10.

If it is desired, control 72 may be of the dead man type so that there will be no danger of the winch 16 operating without a person at the control 72.

It is to be further understood that cables 18 and 20 do not necessarily have to be of the same size. On the contrary, since steel cable is quite expensive, and since it is not necessary to have as strong a cable to lower the boat into the water, cable 20 may be of considerably less strength than cable 18. If two different sized cables are used, the expansion spring 110 will compensate for the difference in the diameters of the cables winding and unwinding on the drums as well as absorb the initial starting shock of the boat dolly 12 down the railway 10.

In order to prevent the cables 18 and 20 from snagging or rubbing against the cross members 80, rollers 120 may be provided to guide the cables when the boat dolly 12 is on the lower part of the railway 10.

Thus it can be seen that herein described is a marine railway that is easy to operate, adaptable to boats of various sizes and river or lake bottoms of different contours, and a railway that may be operated by a person aboard a boat during both the launching and retrieving processes, and a railway that may be dismantled and stored if desired during the off season months.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A marine railway comprising a double rail track, a boat dolly, means mounting said boat dolly for movement along said track, power means, means operatively connecting said power means to said dolly for pulling the latter along said track selectively in either direction in response to the operation of said power means, said connecting means including resilient tension means for absorbing the starting shock of said power means in at least one direction when the latter is effecting movement of said dolly along said track, said power means including a double drum winch disposed at one end of said track, said connecting means including a first flexible tension member having one end disposed about one of said drums and the other end portion secured to said dolly, a second flexible tension member having one end disposed about the other of said drums, guide means carried by said other end of said track, the other end of said second tension member passing through said guide means and secured to said dolly, said dolly comprising a frame having a pair of transversely extending axles secured thereto, a double flanged wheel rotatably journaled at opposite ends of each axle, the wheels on each side of said frame being aligned and adapted to engage and embrace one of said rails, a pair of longitudinally extending rear cradles adapted to support the aft portion of a boat hull, means pivotally connecting said rear cradles to opposite sides of said frame for movement about transversely extending axes, a pair of longitudinally extending forward cradles adapted to support the mid portion of a boat hull, means pivotally connecting said forward cradles to opposite sides of said frame for pivotal movement about the transversely extending axes, said forward and rear cradles being pivotally connected to said frame adjacent their rear ends, said cradles being constructed of buoyant materal.

2. The combination of claim 1 including an extensible bow cradle adapted to engage and embrace the bow of a boat hull.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said bow cradle includes a V-shaped bow plate pivotally secured to the apex of said U-shaped bow cradle for movement about a transversely extending axis.

6 4. The combination of claim 3 including a pair of how guides pivotally secured to opposite sides of said bow cradle for movement about vertically extending axes adapted to slidably engage both sides of a boat hull and guide the bow into engagement with said bow plate.

5. The combination of claim 4 including means for retaining said dolly wheels in engagement with said rails.

6. A marine railway assembly comprising a double rail track, a boat dolly, means mounting said boat dolly for movements along said track, power means, means operatively connecting said power means to said dolly for pulling the latter along said track, said boat dolly including a frame, a pair of forwardly projecting, upwardly inclined, spaced and substantially parallel bow cradle support members, a generally U-shaped bow cradle, means on said support members slidably receiving the free ends of the legs of said bow cradle with the latter aligned and overlapping the free ends of said support members, means for adjusting the overlap of said legs and the corresponding support members, and abutment means carried by the bight portion of said cradle for engagement by the bow stem of a boat supported by said cradle.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said abutment means includes a generally V-shaped plate opening rearwardly of said dolly and mounted for pivotal movement about a transversely extending horizontally disposed axis.

8. The combination of claim 7 including a pair of bow guides each including a portion mounted on a leg of said cradle adjacent the bight portion thereof for movement toward and away from the other leg of the bow guide, and means normally resiliently urging said movable portions of said bow guides toward each other.

9. A marine railway assembly comprising a double rail track, a boat dolly, means mounting said boat dolly for movement along said track, power means, means operatively connecting said power means to said dolly for pulling the latter along said track, said dolly including a pair of longitudinally extending rear cradles adapted to support the aft portion of a boat hull, means pivotally connecting said rear cradles to opposite sides of said frame about a transversely extending axis, a pair of longitudinally extending forward cradles adapted to support the mid-portion of a boat hull, means pivotally connecting said forward cradles to opposite sides of said frame for movement about transversely extending axes, said forward and rear cradles being pivotally connected to said frame adjacent their rear ends, said cradles being constructed of buoyant material.

10. An elongated boat dolly adapted to be moved longitudinally along an inclined marine railway, said boat dolly including a pair of longitudinally extending rear cradles adapted to support the aft portion of a boat hull, means pivotally connecting said rear cradles to opposite sides of said dolly for movement about a transversely extending axis, a pair of longitudinally extending forward cradles adapted to support the midportion of a boat hull, means pivotally connecting said forward cradles to opposite sides of said dolly for movement about axes extending transversely of said dolly, the front ends of each of said forward and rear cradles, disposed forwardly of their pivotal connections to said dolly, being more buoyant than the rear ends of said cradles.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,911 Flannigain Jan. 16, 1843 925,332 Grant June 15, 1909 1,585,193 Haalck May 18, 1926 2,371,461 Newell Mar. 13, 1945 2,415,805 Atwood Feb. 18, 1947 2,419,361 Miles Apr. 22, 1947 2,570,161 Schwartz Oct. 2, 1951 2,859,704 Howard Nov. 11, 1958 

